BE Yourself ....This is Part of Me

Bare Essensuals was the name of my skincare salon. My slogan was BE Sensual, BE Down to Earth, BE Yourself.
Since this is a personal blog I'm starting to evolve this a bit. However, I still love the Bare Essensuals in life - love, laughter, friendship and good clean fun!

Friday, April 27, 2007

Book Release

My inspirational short story releases today. It is called Love's Blessings and you can find it at By Grace Publishing

Previous to this I have not promoted my writing here at all. I write mostly romance and for some reason felt the need to shy away from that. But you know what? It's what I write and I'm getting published and I'm happy about that. Everyone has pre-conceived ideas and, as such, that's why I was nervous to talk about it. I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy, whether on the screen or on the page. Suspense? I love it...add some romance I love it even more. Did I expect to write an inspirational story about a couple who love each other but have lost sight of what they're doing together? Nope. But it happens. It happens in real life all the time. The only thing is you don't often get Happily Ever Afters. In my stories/books you do. I can't plan life. Only God can do that. But in my writing I get to assume that only the very best will follow the end of the book. And there's nothing wrong with that.

The story that released today received its first review the other day and got 4.5 hearts out of 5. I was scared to even look at the review but it wasn't so bad. I know there can still be some bad ones but in the meantime I feel good that my first review for my first story was good. You can read all about this at my writing blog here. If you read this story you will see the ending is very similar to that of some people we all know. Strangely enough I wrote this story before I heard that news but nevertheless the similarities are there.

I intend to keep these two lives separate for the most part but since it is release day I thought I would let all of you know (all two of you that may still read this blog! LOL). I have another story under contract with Wild Rose Press. I don't have a release date for this one yet but I should find out soon.

I have a longer book under conditional contract (which means they want to seem some suggested changes before I get to actually sign on the dotted line) with another publisher. This publisher emailed me last night to see if I would want to be an editor with them so it looks like I'll have another hat to wear.

All of the above publishers are epublishers. Which is not to say they don't publish "real" books but that the books are available as ebooks. Ebooks are becoming very popular as people can read on their pda's, specialised ebook readers, laptops and more. I read a lot of books on my palm pilot. Yes, there is still nothing as wonderful as a good book in your hand but, as with music, there are always new formats and generally ebooks are cheaper. At $10+ for a new book that is something (and hey my short story is only $1.49 USD in ebook format!).

I am at a writing conference next weekend where I will pitch a romantic suspense to Harlequin. Yes, Harlequin. That's the next step for me because the most I've been able to write and finish is 40,000 words and I need at least 60,000 for them. Can I do it? I sure hope so. Would I like to be published with someone else in NYC. Of course, but I can't see that happening for a while. Writing 80,000+ words is very daunting and with three small kids, at least for me, I just don't seem to have the attention span or time. Some day, maybe. But for now I am happy to be doing what I'm doing. I won't get rich (heck I might not even be able to buy pizza) from my short stories but if people enjoy reading what I write then I am happy.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

Or was that dragons and wolves and God, Oh my? In my house one never knows. Last week was interesting. I won't get into the dragons, wolves and God thing on here. Sufficed to say that #1 had a tough week last week.

#2 started watching Wizard of Oz and loves it. She's watched it several times. It goes well with her new McDonald's toys, which are probably the reason she now wants to watch the movie. #1 will not watch it. I think the flying monkeys scare him (and really who can blame him for that) and he has a vivid enough imagination anyway.

I went to a hotel on Friday night. Just me, myself and I. Yep, I discovered that I apparently have no idea how to relax. By the time I figured it out it was time to come home. Too bad, the bed in that hotel was awesome. Maybe next time I will take a tranquilizer and actually sleep.

My husband was baptised on Sunday and that made me happy. He's a good man.

Sold another short story to a different epub. Am very happy with that. My inspirational short is due out a week Friday and I am also looking forward to that.

Life is all sorts of things right now. Good thing I like Lions and Tigers and Bears.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Then the whale blew up

but I guess trying to move a large plastic whale around a hot fireplace isn't the best idea...

Can you see the hole? Yes, you see that entire area is now located here:Not sure if you can see the black blob above that is melted on the fireplace but that's the corner of the whale's tail.

This is how our day started with #1 child crying about his whale blowing up. We ended it with him crying about not getting ice cream because he and his sister didn't clean the play room like they were asked. Apparently "getting distracted" is a good excuse and they really should have been allowed to have the ice cream even though it took over two hours to actually clean the room and it was dinner time by then. He then decided he was moving out. Unfortunately the intended runaway place (Nana's) was unavailable since there was no one to drive him and Nana was out anyway. When he offered the option that Mommy or Daddy could baby sit Nana laughed for a very long time. :-D

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Teeth and Old Navy cutie

#2 lost her very first tooth last week and she really lost it. She either swallowed it or it was stuck in an apple. Either way it was gone. Her big brother wrote her a note for the tooth fairy because she was worried she wouldn't get any money. The note was so cute and he also included a picture he drew of the tooth fairy and a picture he drew of #2's mouth with the tooth missing. I think he was trying to prove it was missing.Before #3 was born last year some wonderful, fun friends gave us the cutest Old Navy outfit for him to wear. I've been waiting forever for it to fit him and it is still a bit large but I didn't care. I ripped the tags off and put it on him. Look how absolutely adorable he is in the outfit...

About Me

I'm a Mom to three, a writer,a book reviewer, a soaper (someone who makes soap and body products), a wife, a friend, a woman. I care deeply, I hurt deeply, I am loyal and someday I'm "gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane".